Choosing The Right Lipstick For Your Skin Tone

Have you ever walked down the street and noticed a woman wearing a lipstick that just doesn't seem to work for her? Sometimes in those instances it can come down to the confidence or style of the woman wearing it or other times it can plain come down to skin tones. Yes, just like foundations the lipstick you choose should compliment the color of your skin. A good rule of thumb when shopping for the perfect lip shade according to Jemma Kidd is to "test on the tip of your fingers. The skin there is very similar in colour and texture to that of your lips, so will give you a good idea as to what the color be."

If you want to get into the 'nitty gritty' of lipstick shopping I'll break it down for you. If you keep these rules in mind even the brightest or scariest shades can suit you:

Porcelain to paler skin typically have a pink skin tone so will suit colors with a cool base. Scarlet reds, brownish pinks and soft apricots compliment this skin tone very well. Be fun and go with a classic red like Jemma Kidd's Ulimate Lipstick Duo in Scarlett.

Fair to olive skin tones more often that not have more of a yellow skin tone so will suit warmer based shades like nudes and pinks. The right shade can be tough to find these that don't have to much blue or orange in them like the Hi-Shine Hydrating Glosstick SPF 15 in Hibiscus.

But wait! As if to make things even more difficult, some people can have both pink and yellow skin tones which are then considered neutral and can wear both cool and warm based shades. Olive skin tones get to pull off my favorites and one of the season's biggest trends, orange. Try Kevyn Aucoin's Elegant Lip Gloss in Vizcaya.

For those dark exotic skin tones, deep warm shades of red, gold or espresso will look stunning. Stand out from the crowd with Jouer's Hydrating Lipstick in Phoebe, a shimmering bronzed wine.

If you're still unsure what all this means, if you naturally gravitate to cool colors as these best suit you, you will have a pink tone. If the opposite is true and you favour wamer colors, you will have a warm, yellow tone. Class dismissed!